Without Me
by itzrausllytrez
Summary: - "I glanced briefly at the card he gave me before his departure. Thinking Of You. How many times had I reread it? I don't even know anymore." Ally tries her hardest to handle Austin being on tour without her. But some things are easier said than done. One-shot.


_**Disclaimer: I don't own Austin & Ally. :33**_

He was gone. He had been gone for two weeks. Fourteen days. Too many hours to count without feeling depressed. And really, you would think the distance between us would effect how I feel about him. You'd think I'd actually start the whole moving on process everybody talks about. But no, of course not. He was still all I saw. He was all I wanted to see.

It so figures I would realize that while he was on a tour with Trish and Dez. Without me.

I glanced briefly at the card he gave me before his departure. _Thinking Of You._ How many times had I read it, reread it, rereread it, and so on? I don't even know anymore. I pretty much lost count around the sixtieth time. Unfortunately, I'm not even exaggerating. Trust me when I say I wish I was.

I wasn't exactly handling this situation very well, needless to say. I kept twirling random people and stuff, but seriously, that's the least of it. I've written so many sappy love songs recently, I'm actually beginning to disgust myself. Oh, sure, I loved love. It was adorable and wonderful and all those great things. But I definitely didn't enjoy falling in love with my best friend and music partner while he was touring the country. _Without me._

I groaned, resting my head on the piano keys. I gently closed my eyes, practically praying that I would fall asleep, if only for awhile. Recently, I've become extremely lazy. Sleeping had almost become an actual pastime for me. It was just so lonely here in Miami without Trish, Dez, and _him_.

Austin Monica Moon.

Such a girly middle name, isn't it? I giggled lightly against the keys as I remembered when he accidentally blurted out his middle name to me. I had been grilling him because, at the time, I had suspected that he stole a guitar from my dad's store, Sonic Boom. He hadn't, of course. He had just borrowed it so he could get it signed by Bruno Mars, one of my favorite artists. Austin had felt guilty about blowing me off all the time, and wanted to make it up to me. Thus, started "Austin & Ally time."

That was a long time ago. Back when I was still a shy girl with stage fright who often chewed her hair. Stage fright is not something I particularly enjoyed having. It was like the flu, in a way, because it's not like I chose to have it. It wasn't contagious or anything like that, despite what Dez apparently thought, but it was just a huge burden to carry throughout those few years. Austin helped me through it, though. I mean, honestly, Austin helped me through everything.

This particular event, however, was a few months ago. Things had been kind of awkward between us at that current time, considering all the Kira and Elliot drama. See, a couple weeks beforehand I had realized I had feelings for Austin while I was helping him plan the perfect date for Kira Starr. I tried moving on about a week later, though, a couple days after Austin and Kira started officially dating. My very first crush from an old summer camp, Elliot, came out to visit me.

Austin got extremely jealous during what he thought was a date Elliot and I were on. It wasn't, obviously. I was trying to figure out a good way to break it to him I just wanted to be friends. Like I said, moving on from Austin was harder than conquering my stage fright. And that's saying something. Well, you probably know that, since I _still_ haven't moved on. But anyway.

Somehow, Austin, my mom (who was visiting me from Africa), Trish, and Dez managed to convince me to perform at my mom's book release party. I probably wouldn't have agreed if Austin hadn't suggested we performed a duet together. By now, I knew I liked Austin and I think he knew I liked him, too. So, I agreed immediately, without even thinking about it. Just like it said in my mother's book.

After we sang the duet, Austin and I rushed backstage and we had a sort of ... moment. Okay, to narrow it down, he kissed me. Everything was going great, too. Until Kira jogged up to us, threw her arms around Austin, yelping that she would be his girlfriend.

I took a deep breath, slowly lifting my head off the piano. I didn't like thinking about that night, as happy as I was -am- that I got over my stage fright. I remember feeling so annoyed, which I had every reason to be. That was my _first kiss_. I wasn't supposed to be crying my eyes out minutes after it occurred.

But whatever, moving on. I looked around the practice room until my eyes eventually landed on what I was searching for. I quickly stood up and strode over to the wall nearest to the door. Actually, the door was on the wall, but I'm not exactly thinking straight right now. Taking a deep breath, I peeled the photograph off the wall. And once when gaze locked on it, it was like I couldn't look away.

It was taken right after Austin and I officially became a couple. Things had been so complicated and messy until that moment, that special moment when he stole my song _again_ but managed to win me over _again_. It wasn't fair, really, that he could just go strolling around, steal one of my original songs, and think to himself, "Okay. I'm gonna make her fall in love with me."

Maybe that's not exactly the case, but hopefully you still get the point.

Rolling my eyes at myself, I focused on the picture again. Little Megan Simms had taken it, desperate for a juicy story for Cheetah Beat. I remember giggling uncontrollably later that evening, when it was just me and Austin. Everything felt so perfect that night. Probably because it was.

After a moment of hesitation I finally taped the photo back to the wall, glancing around the practice room again. After a few seconds I decided I would try video chatting Austin, Trish and Dez. I didn't know what time it was wherever they were, most likely because I didn't even know where they were, and I didn't even know what time it currently was here in Miami. I grabbed my tablet and booted it up. I hesitated once again before calling.

Two seconds quickly turned into thirty seconds. I was about to hang up when someone finally answered. I smiled politely, but that smile almost immediately turned into a lovestruck grin when I saw who I had reached. Of course.

"Hey, Austin," I said brightly, attempting to sound nonchalant and failing miserably. I mean, come on, could you actually blame me? He was ... well, _Austin_. It seemed like almost every teenaged girl in the world had a gigantic crush on him, and with good reason. I was proudly one of them.

"Ally, I'm so happy you called! I-I mean, um ... 'sup?"

I laughed lightly, knowing that Austin only acts this way when he really likes a girl. "Nothing much. Bored. I still have writers block." I paused for a short second before continuing. "I miss you."

A faint blush appeared on his cheeks, and I smiled wider. "I miss you, too. So much. I really wish you were here ... but, uh, I'm really happy for you. Ramon Records. That's amazing. You definitely deserve it," he added quickly, as if trying to cover up what he said before. I knew why, too. Austin didn't want me to feel guilty about choosing to stay here in Miami instead of going on tour with him. Which was extremely sweet.

I just wished it didn't make me fall even harder for him. "Thanks," I mumbled, suddenly feeling pretty awkward. Thankfully, Trish chose that exact moment to butt in.

"Okay, guys, can you wrap it up? This lovestruck fool here has to go on stage to perform in a few minutes, which isn't happening if he keeps staring at the tablet with a dazed expression," Trish snapped, sounding exasperated. I stifled a giggle.

"_Trish_!" Austin yelled, glancing at only fleetingly before averting his attention back to me. "Sorry, Ally, but she's right. I gotta go. But wait - have you figured out when you're going to use _that thing_ yet?"

I knew what he was talking about, of course. The plane ticket to anywhere. I shrugged. "Still not quite sure. But don't worry, when I do you will most certainly be the first to know."

He smiled wide before glancing away again. "Okay, now I _really_ gotta go. Bye, Ally, talk to you later, I lo- uh, I miss you," he said instead, looking confused.

I gaped at him for a second before shaking it off. Probably just a slip of the tongue. "Okay, I miss you, too. Knock 'em dead tonight!"

He chuckled. "I will. Just remember, there's no way I could make it without you, Ally Dawson." And with that quick comment he ended the video call, leaving me by myself while I stared blankly at my tablet.

Eventually I recovered, smiling so wide my face ached. There's no way I can make it without him and there's no way he could make it _without me._

We were like puzzle pieces; We completed each other.


End file.
